1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the connectors employed for establishing a connection between the conductors of two cables to be joined together.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to facilitate cable-connecting operations of this type and especially in order to avoid the need to bare the ends of cable conductors, it has already been proposed to provide connectors with movable connecting-strips which can be pressed into the insulating sheath of the cables to be connected in order to come into contact with the conductors which are enclosed in the sheath.
Thus French patent No. 2,482,790 has for its object a connector in which an insulating connector body has two ducts for receiving the cables to be joined together and which is fitted with two movable metallic connecting-strips located opposite to both edges of said ducts. This connector is intended to receive two flat cables each containing two conductors placed near each edge. Thus, when the cable ends are placed within the ducts of the connector body, each movable connecting-strip is located opposite to one of the conductors of each cable.
The connector of the prior art is provided with an end-cap which is designed so as to exert a pressure on the movable connecting-strips when it is being placed in position. Each connecting-strip is consequently pressed into the insulating sheath of each cable in order to come into direct contact with the corresponding conductor. To this end, the end-cap has an internal wall of conical shape and is fixed on the connector body by screwing, thus making it possible to exert a high pressure on the movable connecting-strips.
However, this connector is suitable only for a predetermined type of electric cable since the cross-sectional area of the ducts of the insulating body must correspond to that of the cables to be connected. Thus, if the connector is designed to receive flat cables having two conductors placed on each side of an axial metallic core, it cannot be employed for connecting cables of smaller width in which no provision is made for an axial core. A fortiori, this connector cannot be employed for connecting independent conductors. In many practical applications, however, it is necessary to connect separate conductors which form part of a multiconductor assembly.
For the reason just given, the object of the present invention is to provide a general-purpose connector which can be employed for coupling different types of cables or conductors. However, another object of the invention is to provide a certain number of improvements in a connector of this type.